From an article by Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad, and M.R. Rangaswami on http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/Â 19th Aug 2009
I certainly concur with Nidumolu, Prahalad & Rangaswami in their assertion that “the quest for sustainability can unearth a mother lode of organizational and technological innovations that yield both top-line and bottom-line returns. That quest has already begun to transform the competitive landscape, as companies redesign products, technologies, processes, and business models.”
And also that “By equating sustainability with innovation today, enterprises can lay the groundwork that will put them in the lead when the recession ends.”
However, they also say that “When companies pursue sustainability, it’s usually to demonstrate that they are socially responsible. They expect that the endeavor will add to their costs, deliver no immediate financial benefits, and quite possibly erode their competitiveness.“ I don’t think that this is necessarily true.
They do generally want to demonstrate ’social responsibility’ (although many I believe are failing to recoup the full marketing benefits of this – i.e. if you are doing it – SHOUT about it!) BUT I don’t think that they believe it will add to their costs. Quite the reverse in fact, I think many now set out to cut/optimise costs and capitalise on a sustainable story at the same time – as demonstrated by the recent ‘cost-optimisation & sustainability’ competition that we ran.
What do you think? I’d be interested to hear
Chris Penfold
Read the full Article here: Why Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation – HBR.org.
Thanks to @Huttson on Twitter for bringing this article to our attention
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